To Hear It
by daydreamer1227
Summary: Harry is at Grimmauld Place and is feeling incredibly fond of everyone there. The dinner passes with laughter and joy, until Fred says something that Harry doesn't know how to respond to. How should he? Nobody had ever said that to him before.


Harry grinned as Sirius walked by smiling broadly and singing Christmas carols. He was glad Sirius finally seemed to be letting himself have a little fun. He knew how awful it felt to be locked up, boy did he ever, but he also knew how wonderful it felt when you were reunited with the people you cared about.

"Come on, everyone!" yelled Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen, "Time to have some dinner-" There were two small explosions in succession before Mrs. Weasley screamed, "Fred! George! What have I told you a hundred times-

"God rest ye merry hippogriffs," bellowed Sirius' loud baritone voice.

"RON!" Ginny was yelling, "Your owl stole my quill!"

"Oh no you don't! Fred, George, get back here _this instant_!"

"Mum, there's a pixie in the bathroom again!" shouted Ron from upstairs.

"CONSTANT VIGILLANCE!"

"Oh for heaven's sake, Mad-Eye," Tonks admonished in amusement.

"Let nothing you dismay," Sirius continued, "Remember… something something, I don't know the words!"

"Sirius," groaned Remus as he came down the stairs, "If you don't know the words, why are you singing?"

There was a loud _crash_ and a "Tonks!" followed quickly by a flustered, "Sorry, Molly."

"Hermione," called Ron, "Can you help me get rid of this pix- GAH! Blimey, Fred, George, I told you not to DO that!"

"We can handle this, ickle-Ronniekins!"

"Mundungus, what on _Earth _are you bringing into this house!" Molly Weasley screeched.

Harry smiled to himself at the ruckus of Grimmauld Place. Mr. Weasley was alive, Sirius was in a good mood, and it was almost Christmas. He was incredibly fond of all of them, everyone in the house.

By the time everyone had actually settled down at the table to eat, Mrs. Weasley had to use a charm to reheat the food that had grown cold during the wait.

Harry felt quite content as he ate a fair helping of everything offered. It was nice to just forget about some things, and simply _be_. He wasn't dwelling on Umbridge (though he was sure that his hand was wrapped inconspicuously, so as not to draw attention), he was trying his best not to dwell on Voldemort, and he was just thankful that Mr. Weasley was all right.

"The prat sought us out- with no provocation whatsoever- and began shooting curses at us!" George was saying.

"Well," Fred corrected, "Maybe a little provocation."

"Well," George continued, "To be completely honest, we may have started it."

"But still, he came at us with his wand and we were shocked-

"Astonished-

"Hurt-

"Saddened-

"Overwhelmed-

"Get on with it!" griped Ginny with a roll of her eyes.

"So we stunned him," said George, shrugging.

"But then we saw students running around the corner," added Fred.

"They looked all scared, and as they ran by, we heard one of them say something about Umbridge," said George solemnly.

Harry tightened his grip around his fork reflexively.

"So to hide we went into this room with a 'keep out' sign on it-

"You what?" snapped Mrs. Weasley, who had just recently started listening in.

Ron snorted.

George waved his mother's concern away, "The sign was just a suggestion, Mum."

Harry smiled.

"And guess what we found in there?" asked Fred excitedly.

"What?" asked Tonks, getting caught up in the story.

"It was the room Filch has been storing the things he confiscates from students!" said George in barely concealed glee.

"Obviously, there were many interesting things in that room and we decided to-

"Boys!" Mrs. Weasley admonished, shaking her head.

As if just realizing that their mother was in the room, Fred quickly altered what he had been about to say. "-to leave everything right where it was," he finished lamely.

There was laughter and butterbeer, and as the night wore on, Harry grew drowsy as he sat and sipped his butterbeer while the table buzzed with friendly conversation.

Hearing his name brought him suddenly back to Earth, and he realized that Ron was telling the twins the story of Harry's last encounter with Draco Malfoy.

"So then Harry," gasps Ron through his laughter, "Asks him if he and Umbridge are going steady, and Malfoy was confused- blighter didn't even notice that Harry had turned his hair pink!"

The twins burst into laughter and Harry smiled before taking another sip of butterbeer; it had earned him a detention with Umbridge once she found out, but it had been worth it.

"And _that_, Harry," said Fred, still laughing hysterically, "Is why we love you!"

Harry very promptly choked on his butterbeer. The laughter died quickly after that and the table became deadly silent as Sirius hit him repeatedly on the back in worry.

Once Harry could breathe again he just stared at Fred with a shocked look on his face.

"Harry- are you all right, dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley anxiously.

Harry tore his eyes from Fred whose face suddenly looked troubled and nodded, "I'm- I'm fine," he said softly, and he cursed his voice for shaking slightly. He stood up abruptly. "Sorry I- I should- I'll just be a minute." He turned to leave the room, but Sirius' hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Harry," he said softly, "Sit down."

Harry saw the alarm in his godfather's face and couldn't make himself leave. He slowly lowered himself back into his chair.

"What was that all about, then?" asked Remus softly. "You're all right, aren't you, Harry?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine," Harry looked away, feeling his face grow hot, "It's just, nobody's ever said that to me before. It caught me off guard, that's all."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room as everyone absorbed this new bit of information. Mrs. Weasley stood up abruptly and turned her back on them as she made her way to the sink. She began washing dishes without a word, but everyone could see her shoulders shaking slightly.

Now Harry just felt terrible, so he stood up and cautiously made his way towards her, trying to ignore the eyes he felt on his back. "Er… Mrs. Weasley?" he asked softly, trying to get her to look at him.

With his back on the dinner table, he did not see the looks being exchanged by its occupants. Sirius had his head in his hands while Remus just stared straight ahead at nothing in shock. Ron and Hermione shared a look of grief before turning their eyes back on Harry. Fred just sat there, stunned at the reaction those simple words had caused. _And that, Harry, is why we love you_. It seemed like the right thing to say; because _of course_ he loved Harry. Harry had become part of the family; Harry was an honorary brother. The words had come out naturally, like they just _fit_. All the Weasley's knew that Harry was a part of their family now. Hell, Sirius and Remus considered him family too. Didn't Harry know that they all loved them? Hadn't they ever _told_ him before?

It had just seemed so obvious to all of them, that they had never mentioned it… but still, Harry knew that they loved him, didn't he?

_Nobody's ever said that to me before_.

Fred felt anger beginning to grow at the implications of those words. Him and Sirius were going to have a nice little chat about the Dursleys once this was over.

"Mrs. Weasley?" Harry asked again, his words filled with hesitation and uncertainty, and that is what pulled Molly Weasley over the edge.

She turned and threw her arms around Harry in such an abrupt hug that she forgot to wipe her hands that were soaked with dishwater. Harry stood there in shock for a moment, eyes wide, arms held out at his sides, before he slowly returned the hug.

"We love you Harry, do you hear me?" she asked shakily as she clutched him to her.

Harry started again at the unexpected words, as if he hadn't expected to hear them again. Mrs. Weasley pulled away and Harry was amazed to see that her eyes were wet. She took in his overwhelmed expression and it took everything she had to keep herself from crying. She patted his cheek clumsily, "Of course we love you."

Harry unconsciously took a step back and opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

Sirius stood up then, unable to just watch anymore. He moved swiftly over to his godson and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Oh Harry…" he said, before pulling him into a hug as well. "We always have and we always will."

Harry had to wipe a hand across his face, horrified at the moisture that was there. He took a deep breath as he held tightly onto Sirius before squeezing him even harder. Mrs. Weasley's hugs were always motherly, and wonderful, but this was different.

This was as if by a father.

When Sirius finally pulled away, Harry was glad to see that he wasn't the only one who had to wipe his face.

Ron stepped forward uncertainly, "You did _know_ this already didn't you?" he asked guiltily. "Surely that you must have noticed-

But then Harry was hugging him, and Hermione was there, and the twins, and Ginny. Sirius and Remus and Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Of course he'd known.

He'd always known.

It was just nice to finally hear it.

A/N: Just a little one shot that has been on my mind for ages. Review please!


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